SPEECH IN THE SENATE, ON THE BILL PROVIDING AID FOR EMANCIPATION IN
MISSOURI, FEBRUARY 12, 1863.
The recommendation of President Lincoln to aid the States in
Emancipation, though urged by him, never found great favor in
Congress. Among the measures prompted by it was one introduced
into the House of Representatives by Mr. Noell, of Missouri,
entitled, “A Bill giving aid to the State of Missouri for the
purpose of securing the abolishment of Slavery in said State.”
This provided that the Government of the United States would,
upon the passage of a good and valid Act of Emancipation of
all the slaves therein, and to be irrepealable, unless by the
consent of the United States, apply the sum of ten million
dollars in United States bonds, redeemable in thirty years from
date. It passed the House by 73 yeas against 46 nays.
In the Senate, this bill was referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary, which reported a substitute, when it was recommitted
and another substitute reported, by which it was provided,
that, on the adoption of a valid law by Missouri “for the
_gradual_ or immediate emancipation of all the slaves therein,
and the exclusion of Slavery forever thereafter from said
State,” twenty million dollars in United States bonds should
be applied “to compensate for the inconveniences produced by
such change of system,” which was to take effect “on some day
not later than the fourth day of July, 1876”; but the bonds
were not to exceed ten million dollars, unless there was “full
and perfect manumission” before the fourth day of July, 1865,
nor in their aggregate were they to exceed “the sum of three
hundred dollars for each slave emancipated.”
This recognition of the principle of _Gradual_ Emancipation,
especially as a war measure, was very disagreeable to Mr.
Sumner. February 7th, he moved to strike out “seventy-six”
and insert “sixty-four,” so that the Act of Emancipation
should go into operation on the 4th of July, 1864; and here he
remarked:--
MR. PRESIDENT,--This bill, as I understand it, is a bill of peace; it
is to bring back tranquillity in a disturbed State. If you ask for
authority under the Constitution, I cannot doubt that it is in the
War Power. It is in the power to suppress this insurrection, to put
down this rebellion. But most strangely do you seek to put down this
rebellion by the abolition of Slavery twenty years, or even ten years,
from now. To my mind the proposition is simply ridiculous. I use strong
language, because so it seems to me, and I cannot help saying it.
Sir, for the sake of our common country at this critical moment, for
the sake of Missouri herself, for the sake of every slave-master in
Missouri, and for the sake of every slave, I insist that Abolition
shall be completed at the nearest possible day. History, reason,
and common sense are uniform in this requirement, and I challenge
contradiction to their concurring testimony.
The measure on its face is double, being in the alternative. It
provides a certain sum in the event of Emancipation taking place within
two years, and another sum if it takes place at a certain distant day.
Now, Sir, I do not desire any alternative. I trust that what we do will
take effect at once. I wish to see the benefit of it, especially to see
it felt in the suppression of the Rebellion.
Mr. Willey, of West Virginia, said, that, in his estimation,
“it would be much better for Missouri, and for the slave, if,
instead of 1876, it was 1900”; and he was followed by Mr.
Henderson, of Missouri, on the same side. Mr. Sumner replied
briefly.
I assume that Senators are in earnest for something to put down the
Rebellion. Our country, I know, is rich in resources. It can vote
millions for almost any purpose; but still I doubt if the Senator from
Missouri would urge Congress, at this moment, to appropriate millions,
unless he expected in this way to do something very positive against
the Rebellion. I assume that this is his object, and also the object
of other Senators urging this measure. Is there any other object to
justify, at this moment, a vote for it? Is there any Senator who
will toss twenty or ten millions of money to any State, unless he is
satisfied that by doing so he can help put an end to the Rebellion?
On this point all must agree. Therefore do I insist on the single
question, How shall we most surely help put an end to the Rebellion?
If this can be best accomplished by immediate Emancipation, then must
we vote accordingly. But if it is better to allow Emancipation to drag
through twenty or even ten years, with the possibility of reaction, and
with the certainty of controversy during all this period, and, above
all, without any immediate good, then will Senators vote accordingly.
Sir, I am against any such thing. I wish the measure to be effective
for the object proposed, and, as I do not believe it can be effective,
unless immediate, I must vote accordingly.
The amendment of Mr. Sumner was lost,--Yeas 11, Nays 26.
In the debate which ensued, Mr. Powell, of Kentucky, taunted
Mr. Sumner with desiring the negroes of Missouri to be “freed
quickly, so that Governor Andrew can recruit there to fill up
the Massachusetts quota.” Mr. Sumner replied: “I would have
a musket put in the hands of every one of these negroes in
Missouri.”
Mr. Sumner moved to amend by striking out “three hundred” and
inserting “two hundred” dollars, as the measure of value of a
slave. Here he said:--
I object to the enormous valuation. I object to it in the present
bill, and also as a precedent. We shall be bound by it hereafter. The
next bill will have this same value of three hundred dollars for each
slave. I would begin by putting it at two hundred dollars, and that is
my motion.
This amendment was adopted,--Yeas 19, Nays 17.
Mr. Sumner then moved to strike out the word “gradual,” so that
the money should be paid only on immediate Emancipation. Here
he remarked, that he did not understand a war measure which
was to go into effect ten years from now,--that he did not
understand a gradual war measure,--that it was an absurdity in
terms, and utterly indefensible.
The motion was lost,--Yeas 11, Nays 27.
The question then recurred on the adoption of the substitute,
when Mr. Sumner spoke as follows.
MR. PRESIDENT,--If I speak tardily in this debate, I hope for the
indulgence of the Senate. Had I been able to speak earlier, I should
have spoken; but, though present in the Chamber, and voting when this
bill was under consideration formerly, I was at the time too much of an
invalid to take an active part in the debate. In justice to myself and
to the great question, I cannot be silent.
I have already voted to give Missouri twenty million dollars to secure
freedom at once for her slaves, and to make her at once a Free State.
I am ready to vote more, if more be needed for this good purpose; but
I will not vote money to be sunk and lost in an uncertain scheme of
Prospective Emancipation, where Freedom is a jack-o’-lantern, and the
only certainty is the Congressional appropriation. For money paid down,
Freedom must be delivered.
Notwithstanding all differences of opinion on this important question,
there is much occasion for congratulation in the progress made.
Thank God, on one point the Senate is substantially united. A large
majority will vote for Emancipation. This is much, both as a sign of
the present and a prophecy of the future. A large majority, in the
name of Congress, will offer pecuniary aid. This is a further sign
and prophecy. Such a vote, and such an appropriation, will constitute
an epoch. Only a few short years ago the very mention of Slavery
in Congress was forbidden, and all discussion of it was stifled.
Now Emancipation is an accepted watchword, while Slavery is openly
denounced as a guilty thing worthy of death.
It is admitted, that now, under the exigency of war, the United
States ought to coöperate with any State in the abolition of Slavery,
giving it pecuniary aid; and it is proposed to apply this principle
practically in Missouri. It was fit that Emancipation, destined to end
the Rebellion, should begin in South Carolina, where the Rebellion
began. It is also fit that the action of Congress in behalf of
Emancipation should begin in Missouri, which, through the faint-hearted
remissness of Congress, as late as 1820, was opened to Slavery. Had
Congress at that time firmly insisted that Missouri should enter the
Union as a Free State, the vast appropriation now proposed would have
been saved, and, better still, this vaster civil war would have been
prevented. The whole country is now paying with treasure and blood for
that fatal surrender. Alas, that men should forget that God is bound by
no compromise, and that, sooner or later, He will insist that justice
shall be done! There is not a dollar spent, and not a life sacrificed,
in this calamitous war, which does not plead against any repetition of
that wicked folly. Palsied be the tongue that speaks of compromise with
Slavery!
Though, happily, compromise is no longer openly mentioned, yet it
insinuates itself in this debate. In former times it took the shape of
barefaced concession, as in the admission of Missouri with Slavery, in
the annexion of Texas with Slavery, the waiver of the prohibition of
Slavery in the Territories, the atrocious bill for the reënslavement of
fugitives, and the opening of Kansas to Slavery, first by the Kansas
Bill, and then by the Lecompton Constitution. In each of these cases
there was concession to Slavery which history records with shame, and
it was by this that your wicked slaveholding conspiracy waxed confident
and strong, till at last it became ripe for war.
And now it is proposed, as an agency in the suppression of the
Rebellion, to make an end of Slavery. By proclamation of the
President, all slaves in certain States and designated parts of States
are declared free. Of course this proclamation is a war measure,
rendered just and necessary by exigencies of war. As such, it is
summary and instant in operation, not prospective or procrastinating.
A proclamation of Prospective Emancipation would have been an
absurdity,--like a proclamation of a prospective battle, where not
a blow was to be struck or a cannon pointed before 1876, unless,
meanwhile, the enemy desired it. What is done in war must be done
promptly, except, perhaps, under the policy of defence. Gradualism
is delay, and delay is the betrayal of victory. If you would be
triumphant, strike quickly, let your blows be felt at once, without
notice or premonition, and especially without time for resistance or
debate. Time deserts all who do not appreciate its value. Strike
promptly, and time becomes your invaluable ally; strike slowly,
gradually, prospectively, and time goes over to the enemy.
But every argument for the instant carrying out of the Proclamation,
every consideration in favor of despatch in war, is especially
applicable to whatever is done by Congress as a war measure. In a
period of peace Congress might fitly consider whether Emancipation
should be immediate or prospective, and we could listen with patience
to the instances adduced by the Senator from Wisconsin [Mr. DOOLITTLE]
in favor of delay,--to the case of Pennsylvania, and to the case of
New York, where slaves were tardily admitted to their birthright. Such
arguments, though to my judgment of little value at any time, might
then be legitimate. But now, when we are considering how to put down
the Rebellion, they are not even legitimate. There is but one way to
put down the Rebellion, and that is _instant action_; and all that
is done, whether in the field, in the Cabinet, or in Congress, must
partake of this character. Whatever is postponed for twenty years, or
ten years, may seem abstractly politic or wise; but it is in no sense
a war measure, nor can it contribute essentially to the suppression of
the Rebellion.
I think I may assume, without contradiction, that the tender of money
to Missouri for the sake of Emancipation is a war measure, to be
vindicated as such under the Constitution of the United States. It is
also an act of justice to an oppressed race. But it is not in this
unquestionable character that it is now commended. If it were urged
on no other ground, even if every consideration of philanthropy and
of religion pleaded for it with rarest eloquence, I fear that it
would stand but little chance in either House of Congress. Let us not
disguise the truth. Except as a war measure to aid in putting down
the Rebellion, this proposition could expect little hospitality here.
Senators are ready to vote money--as the British Parliament voted
subsidies--to supply the place of soldiers, or to remove a stronghold
of the Rebellion, all of which is done by Emancipation. I do not
overstate the case. Slavery is a stronghold, which through Emancipation
will be removed, while every slave, if not every slave-master, becomes
an ally of the Government. Therefore Emancipation is a war measure, and
constitutional as the raising of armies or the occupation of hostile
territory.
In vindicating Emancipation as a war measure, we must see that it
is made under such conditions as to exercise a present, _instant_
influence. It must be immediate, not prospective. In proposing
Prospective Emancipation, you propose a measure which can have little
or no influence on the war. Abstractly Senators may prefer that
Emancipation should be prospective rather than immediate; but this is
not the time for the exercise of any abstract preference. Whatever is
done as a war measure must be immediate, or it will cease to have this
character, whatever you call it.
If I am correct in this statement,--and I do not see how it can be
questioned,--then is the appropriation for Immediate Emancipation
just and proper under the Constitution, while that for Prospective
Emancipation is without sanction, except what it finds in the
sentiments of justice and humanity.
It is proposed to vote ten million dollars to promote Emancipation ten
years from now. Perhaps I am sanguine, but I cannot doubt that before
the expiration of that period Slavery will die in Missouri under the
awakened judgment of the people, even without the action of Congress.
If our resources were infinite, we might tender this large sum by way
of experiment; but with a treasury drained to the bottom, and a debt
accumulating in fabulous proportions, I do not understand how we can
vote millions, which, in the first place, will be of little or no
service in the suppression of the Rebellion, and, in the second place,
will be simply a largess in no way essential to the subversion of
Slavery.
Whatever is given for Immediate Emancipation is given for the national
defence, and for the safety and honor of the Republic. It will be a
blow at the Rebellion. Whatever is given for Prospective Emancipation
will be a gratuity to slaveholders and a tribute to Slavery. Pardon
me, if I repeat what I have already said on this question: “Millions
for defence, but not a cent for tribute”; millions for defence against
peril, from whatever quarter it may come, but not a cent for tribute
in any quarter,--especially not a cent for tribute to the loathsome
tyranny of Slavery.
I know it is sometimes said that even Prospective Emancipation will
help weaken the Rebellion. That it will impair the confidence in
Slavery, and also its value, I cannot doubt. But it is equally clear
that it will leave Slavery still alive and on its legs; and just
so long as this is the case, there must be controversy and debate,
with attending weakness, while Reaction perpetually lifts its crest.
Instead of tranquillity, which we all seek for Missouri, we shall have
contention. Instead of peace, we shall have prolonged war. Every year’s
delay, ay, Sir, every week’s delay, in dealing death to Slavery leaves
just so much of opportunity to the Rebellion; for so long as Slavery
is allowed to exist in Missouri the Rebellion will still struggle,
not without hope, for its ancient mastery. But let Slavery cease at
once and all will be changed. There will be no room for controversy
or debate, with attending weakness; nor can Reaction lift its crest.
There will be no opportunity to the Rebellion, which must cease all
effort there, when Missouri can no longer be a Slave State. Freedom
will become our watchful, generous, and invincible ally, while the
well-being, the happiness, the repose, and the renown of Missouri will
be established forever.
* * * * *
Thus far, Sir, I have presented the argument on grounds peculiar to
this case; and here I might stop. Having shown, that, as a military
necessity, and for the sake of that economy which it is our duty to
cultivate, Emancipation must be immediate, I need not go further. But
I do not content myself here. The whole question is opened between
Immediate Emancipation and Prospective Emancipation,--or, in other
words, between doing right at once and doing right at some future,
distant day. Procrastination is the thief, not only of time, but of
virtue itself. Yet such is the nature of man that he is disposed
always to delay, so that he does nothing to-day which he can put
off till to-morrow. Perhaps in no single matter is this disposition
more apparent than with regard to Slavery. Every consideration of
humanity, justice, religion, reason, common sense, and history, all
demanded the instant cessation of an intolerable wrong, without
procrastination or delay. But human nature would not yield, and we
have been driven to argue the question, whether an outrage, asserting
property in man, denying the conjugal relation, annulling the parental
relation, shutting out human improvement, and robbing its victim of
all the fruits of his industry,--the whole to compel work without
wages,--should be stopped instantly or gradually. It is only when we
regard Slavery in its essential elements, and look at its unutterable
and unquestionable atrocity, that we fully comprehend the mingled
folly and wickedness of this question. If it were merely a question of
economy, or a question of policy, then the Senate might properly debate
whether the change should be instant or gradual; but considerations of
economy and policy are all absorbed in the higher claims of justice and
humanity. There is no question whether justice and humanity shall be
immediate or gradual. Men are to cease at once from wrong; they are to
obey the Ten Commandments instantly, and not gradually.
Senators who argue for Prospective Emancipation show themselves
insensible to the true character of Slavery, or insensible to the
requirements of reason. One or the other of these alternatives must be
accepted.
Shall property in man be disowned immediately, or only prospectively?
Reason answers, Immediately.
Shall the conjugal relation be maintained immediately, or only
prospectively? Reason recoils from the wicked absurdity of the inquiry.
Shall the parental relation be recognized immediately, or only
prospectively? Reason is indignant at the question.
Shall the opportunities of knowledge, including the right to read the
Book of Life, be opened immediately or prospectively? Reason brands the
idea of delay as impious.
Shall the fruits of his own industry be given to a fellow-man
immediately or prospectively? Reason insists that every man shall have
his own without postponement.
And history, thank God, speaking by examples, testifies in conformity
with reason. The conclusion is irresistible. If you would contribute
to the strength and honor of the Nation, if you would bless Missouri,
if you would benefit the slave-master, if you would elevate the slave,
and, still further, if you would afford an example which shall fortify
and consecrate the Republic, making it at once citadel and temple, do
not put off the day of Freedom. In this case, more than in any other,
he gives twice who quickly gives.
The substitute, containing the provisions for Gradual
Emancipation, was then adopted,--Yeas 27, Nays 10,--Mr. Sumner
voting in the minority. The final question was on the passage
of the bill as amended by the insertion of the substitute, when
Mr. Sumner said:--
I shall vote for this bill on its final passage, but it will be because
I know it will go back to the House of Representatives, where it can
undergo consideration, and where, I trust, a bill will be at last
matured that will embody the true principle which ought to govern this
great question.
The bill passed,--Yeas 23, Nays 18. It went back to the House,
where it gave way to a new bill, which was lost in the closing
hours of the Thirty-Seventh Congress. Aid to States and
Compensated Emancipation soon passed out of sight.